Louisville Metro Budget Committee Meeting – August 20, 2026
Louisville Metro Budget Committee Meeting – August 20, 2026
The Budget Committee of the Louisville Metro Council, chaired by Kevin Kramer (R-11), met on Thursday, August 20, 2026, from 4:34 PM to 5:18 PM. The committee conducted a special discussion on the Joshua Community Connectors (JCC) contract and performance report, and voted on seven items of pending legislation, including budget transfers, capital project reallocations, and a resolution to accept federal funding. All nine present members voted unanimously on each item, with one member excused.
Consent Calendar
The following items were recommended for approval by unanimous roll call votes (9-0) and sent to the Consent Calendar for the full Metro Council meeting on August 27, 2026:
- O-233-26: Transfer of $70,000 from District 9 Capital Infrastructure Fund to District 9 Neighborhood Development Fund (sponsored by Andrew Owen).
- O-234-26: Transfer of $50,000 from District 9 Neighborhood Development Fund to Louisville Metro Council General Operations (District 9) (sponsored by Andrew Owen).
- O-213-26: Transfer of $35,000 from District 3 Neighborhood Development Fund to Louisville Metro Council General Operations (District 3) (sponsored by Shameka Parrish-Wright).
- O-222-26: Transfer of $136,336.49 from the Unallocated Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Grants Project to Emergency Services for the USDA Streambank Stabilization Project (sponsored by Kevin Kramer and Scott Reed).
- O-231-26: Transfer of $83,555.70 from two existing District 15 capital projects to establish two new District 15 projects (sponsored by Jennifer Chappell).
- O-232-26: Renaming of three capital project titles in the FY 2026-2027 Capital Budget (sponsored by Kevin Kramer, with Markus Winkler added as co-sponsor).
Public Comments & Testimony
No members of the public testified. The special discussion featured a presentation and Q&A with James Tatum (Director, Office of Violence Prevention) and Kimberly Moore (CEO, Joshua Community Connectors), followed by questions from Council Members Tammy Hawkins, Marilyn Parker, Ken Herndon, Shameka Parrish-Wright, Donna Purvis, and Vice Chair Markus Winkler.
Discussion Items
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Special Discussion – ID 26-1126 (Joshua Community Connectors): The committee reviewed JCC’s FY 2025-2026 performance and the FY 2026-2027 contract. Key points included:
- Metro’s $100,000 contribution represents 23% of JCC’s total $460,000 budget.
- JCC reported housing 12 families, relocating 3 families locally, and supporting 3 individuals in college during the past year.
- A case manager with a master’s degree carries a caseload of 25 people and is paid $27,000 annually (part-time).
- Relocation costs vary widely (e.g., $3,000 for one person, $22,000 for a family of six); services can extend up to 20 months.
- Unmet demand: JCC was unable to serve approximately 20 relocation requests last year, often due to safety concerns or the individual’s involvement in violence.
- The new contract, now under the Office of Violence Prevention, includes defined KPIs, quarterly reporting, and fiscal compliance checks. Council members expressed support for the program while seeking clarity on referral processes, sustainability, and criteria for assistance.
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O-226-26 (Loan Fund Consolidation): This ordinance consolidates multiple revolving loan fund accounts into four categories for easier administration. An amendment was added to clarify that the Office of Management and Budget has authority to transfer balances as of June 30, 2026. The amended ordinance was recommended for approval and sent to Old Business.
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R-110-26 (Federal Funding Acceptance): A resolution authorizing the Mayor to accept up to $13,470,000 in federal earmarks from Senator McConnell and Congressman McGarvey for various projects (behavioral health, transportation, etc.). A technical amendment added “Facilities and Fleets” to the list of departments. The amended resolution was recommended for approval and sent to Old Business.
Key Outcomes
- All six items on the consent calendar were approved unanimously (9-0) and will be considered by the full Metro Council on August 27, 2026.
- O-226-26 and R-110-26 were each amended (by voice vote) and then recommended for approval (9-0); they were sent to Old Business for further consideration.
- Committee members expressed appreciation for the Joshua Community Connectors’ work and noted the need for continued tracking and reporting.
- The meeting adjourned at 5:18 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. I'm Kevin Kramer. It is uh Thursday, August 20th. It's about 4:35. We're a few minutes late getting started. Sorry. Um I'm chair of the budget committee. I'm joined by my vice chair, uh, Councilman Winkler. Also in chambers are Councilwoman Parrish Wright, Councilman Herndon, Councilman Piagentini, Councilwoman Parker, Councilwoman uh Chapo, and Councilwoman Hawkins. I'm joined online, or at least I'm told that I'll be joined online by uh Councilman Reno Weber. The screens are not showing, so I can't tell for sure. Um, and uh uh Jenny Mulvey Woolridge has an excused absence. Um she's coming to grips with being becoming a an empty nester. So um okay. Um so uh madam clerk, if you could please read into the record the this meeting is being held pursuant to KRS 61.826 in Council Rule 5A read in full. There we go, thank you. Um so I'm gonna uh take the items in order in order on the agenda, and the first item on the agenda is a special discussion. Um may remember that during the budget uh discussions, Joshua Community Connectors uh was in a contract with Metro Louisville, and when the department head where the contract was housed was asked some questions, the department head wasn't as comfortable answering the questions um as we would like for them to have been as it happens. The mayor had recently moved the account from one department to another department. The contract itself was the same contract, the work being done was the same work. Um the difference was the department through which it was going, and so that created some question among some of our colleagues and some folks that asked if once the budget was was passed and we were a little bit into it, um, if Joshua Community Connectors would be willing to come in and share the work that they're doing through this contract, and then also um if we could have the mayor's office come and give us some sense of of where we are in the process today. I think that captures the discussion. Um councilwoman, is that a fairly accurate accurate capture of okay? So I think that captures uh where we are. Um and so with that, we'll go ahead and start with a special item. Um so I will turn it over then to um Mr. Tatum from the Office of Violence Prevention to kick it off and then so if you'll introduce yourself and then go ahead and get us started. Uh good afternoon, folks. Uh council G C and the director of the office violence. Oh, there we go. Sorry. Uh I'm James Tatum. I'm the director of the Office of Violence Prevention. Great, thank you. And you're joined by Kimberly Moore, CEO of Joshua Community Connectors. Great. Um, do I want to just uh jump in with a brief introduction or do you want to move right into questions? So I sent you our report and um it shows the hundred thousand dollars that Metro government gave us, which is 23% of our budget, and uh we how we housed 12 families, relocated three, and we have three individuals that are in college. Um we have a case manager with a master's degree that carries a caseload of 25 people. Um and so our budget is 460,000, and your hundred thousand dollars of it is twenty-three percent. And so we just wanted to be clear about what we do and how we do it. Um, you know, some of our partners are sitting behind us, and um we discuss relocations, and a lot of the relocations come to me through LMPD, and you know, everybody whose house is shut up cannot be relocated, which makes people mad sometimes. And so sometimes we get relocations, and I call LMPD and they told me to fall back because it may be a dangerous situation. And so that's it for me. Great, thank you. Uh and uh to clarify some of the questions that we had from the uh budget hearing previously. So uh working with Ms. Moore, so um OBP's predecessor, Ocean did have a fiscal year 24 contract with Josh Rhode Community Connectors to perform a lot of the same services. So using uh that previous contract, and then also what uh JCC had done last year for group violence intervention. We did develop this year's grant contract.
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